Report: Giants out on James Shields and Max Scherzer
The top two free agents still available are starting pitchers James Shields and Max Scherzer, and though it appears neither is anywhere near the finish line in terms of finalizing a deal, it sounds like we can safely eliminate one major potential suitor from their lists.
According to ESPN’s Jim Bowden, the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants are out, or more specifically, they’re out on Shields, and were never really in on Scherzer.
If all true, that’s notable information. After making a strong push to sign Jon Lester, San Francisco was fully expected to compete for the services of Shields, with Scherzer considered a long shot given his $200 million asking price. Now it would appear they’re going to miss out on all three, leaving the re-signing of Jake Peavy to a two-year, $24 million as their biggest offseason move. Not that Peavy is a bad consolation, but San Francisco’s aspirations have been much higher. In addition to missing out on the big trio of pitching free agents, they also failed to bring back Pablo Sandoval or sign Yasmany Tomas.
Peavy’s return should at least solidify San Francisco’s top three in the starting rotation. Along with anchor Madison Bumgarner and 39-year-old veteran Tim Hudson, it’s a competitive group. But there are concerns, too, mainly centering around the health of Matt Cain, who missed the 2014 championship run after having bone chips removed from his right elbow.
If Cain is slow to return to health or his previous production, the pressure could be on Tim Lincecum to produce a bounce back season. Given his up and down production over the past two seasons, ranging from a pair of no-hitters to a pair of outright demotions to the bullpen, it’s a risky proposition. But given the information that Ben Zobrist is general manager Brian Sabean’s top trade priority, it seems he’s now content taking the risk.
As for Shields and Scherzer, neither has been strongly linked to a team recently, but both should still have plenty of suitors left. Shields in particular could see his market heat up quickly with the starting pitching market thinning. The Boston Red Sox, who missed out on Jon Lester themselves, and the New York Yankees, who lost both Hiroki Kuroda and Brandon McCarthy, are probably the teams worth watching closely.
With that said though, the market has proven unpredictable because general managers are getting more creative than ever in resetting their rosters. It’s difficult to count anyone out of the sweepstakes.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
